Finding Love
by doodlegirll
Summary: When Pocahontas finds an injured John in the forest, he asks her not to tell anyone she knows where he is. But when John's injuries grow worse, Pocahontas knows she has a choice to make: whether or not to tell John's friends where he is. DISCONTINUED.
1. Back Again?

Finding Love

_When Pocahontas finds an injured John in the forest, he asks her not to tell anyone where he is. But when his injuries grow worse, Pocahontas knows she has an important decision to make- whether or not to tell John's friends where he is._

Chapter One- Back Again?

Pocahontas stood at her favorite cliff looking out over the water. She squinted against the horizon. Was that the ship? Was that it? Was that the ship that would have John on it?

"It is a ship, Meeko!" Pocahontas said, looking down at the little raccoon. A storm was brewing and it was proving to be a bad one. She hoped that the ship would be alright. But more than anything, she hoped John was on that ship. He had been gone for exactly ten months. His letter had said that his wounds had healed a faster than he or anyone else had imagined.

"I hope he's on this one!" Pocahontas whispered, mostly to herself. Meeko looked from her to the horizon, back to her. He shrugged and turned back towards the edge of the woods. Flit buzzed nervously. The wind was picking up and he knew that they would have to get back home soon.

"I know, Flit. We should be getting back." Pocahontas said. She turned around and ran against the wind home.

_If that ship does have John on it, I hope he has enough sense not to come to the village in this storm!_ Pocahontas thought. She ran into her hut and shivered. Thunder crashed outside and Meeko dove under a blanket. Pocahontas chuckled. Percy joined him.

"You two are so funny when it comes to storms!" She said. Her father suddenly entered the hut.

"Wingapo, Father." Pocahontas said.

"Wingapo, Daughter." Powhatan answered.

"What's the matter?" Pocahontas asked.

"This storm is what bothers me at the moment. It looks like it'll be a bad one, daughter. Please be careful." Powhatan said and Pocahontas nodded.

"Don't worry, Father. I'll be careful. But something about the storm bothers me, too. I just came from my cliff. I saw a ship on the horizon and I think John's on it!" She said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"If he is on it, I hope he's safe." Powhatan answered, seeing the alarm on his daughter's face. "And once this storm has passed, I'm sure he'll come and find you."

"I hope so, Father. I've missed him so much! I hope he's on that ship!" Pocahontas said. The thought of being reunited with John made her happy and sad. John had been shot protecting her father and was forced to return to England. He had wanted to stay, but Pocahontas wouldn't hear of it. He would have died if he had stayed. She had prayed for him each day. She had hoped and prayed with all her heart he would come back. And now he was!

"Get some rest, Pocahontas." Powhatan said. Pocahontas nodded. Her father smiled and left. Pocahontas sighed. Lightning flashed and a huge clap of thunder followed. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Running

Chapter two- Running

The storm proved to be worse than anyone imagined. It raged for four days, never ceasing. Pocahontas was growing worried. What if the ship had sunk? What if John hadn't been on that one?

"Burr!" Nakoma said, stepping into Pocahontas's hut.

"I know. It is a little cold out there with all that wind and rain." Pocahontas said, sighing.

"What are you doing?" Nakoma asked.

"Thinking." Pocahontas said.

"Again?"

"Again."

"Don't worry; he'll come. As soon as this storm has passed, he'll come." Nakoma assured her. Pocahontas hoped she was right.

...oOo...

The next day, the storm cleared. The day was beautiful, but muggy. Pocahontas stretched as she stepped out of her hut into the morning sun. She hoped today would be the day she and John would be reunited. Nakoma passed her.

"Wingapo, Pocahontas." She said cheerily.

"Wingapo, Nakoma." Pocahontas answered.

"Are you going to head over to Jamestown?"

"I am." Pocahontas answered. She smiled.

"Good. Good luck!" Nakoma said as she turned to go.

"OK! Bye!" Pocahontas said and she turned towards Jamestown. She hoped and prayed that John was there waiting for her. After ten months of being away from each other, Pocahontas was anxious to see him again. She entered the settlement. She spotted Thomas on the other side of the fort.

"Thomas!" She called out to him. No one else seemed to be awake yet. Thomas turned to face her.

"Hello, Pocahontas." He said.

"Wingapo." Pocahontas said back.

"You've come here about the ship, haven't you?" Thomas asked. Pocahontas nodded.

"You might want to sit down." Thomas said.

"What? Why? Thomas, what's wrong?" Pocahontas asked.

"It's about the ship." Thomas said.

"What happened? Was John on it?"

"Yes, John was on it. And you that Eric Dawson, John's friend, was on it, too." Pocahontas nodded.

"Well, in the storm four days ago, the ship had to anchor before it reached the bay. According to Eric, the storm got too bad. It couldn't come into the bay." Thomas went on.

"But Thomas, what's wrong?" Pocahontas asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Well, the storm grew worse. And…"

"And?"

"John fell overboard." Thomas said. Pocahontas didn't know what to say.

"What?" She asked. "Is he alright?" She asked. Thomas shook his head.

"No, Pocahontas, John fell overboard and he wasn't heard from again. He disappeared. He…he drowned." Pocahontas couldn't say anything. She was in a state of shock.

"How? How could he drown?" She nearly screamed.

"The storm was a bad one, Pocahontas, but it was worse on the sea." Thomas explained.

"He can't be dead! He just can't!" Pocahontas cried.

"I'm afraid he is, Pocahontas." Thomas said, looking at the ground.

"NO! No, he can't be dead!" Pocahontas screamed and she ran from the settlement. She didn't know where she was going, but she wasn't going home. She had to get away from there as fast as she could. Meeko and Percy had to run at full speed to keep up with her. Pocahontas ran and ran. She ran as though her very life depended on it. Only once before had she run like this and it was for the total opposite of what had just happened. After about an hour, Pocahontas stopped. She could finally stop. She had run hard, slowing only for breath. She had never been in this part of her homeland before, but she didn't care. She just couldn't go back home or back to Jamestown. She just couldn't. Finally, she could take it no more. Pocahontas sank to the unfamiliar ground and sobbed.

**A/N- **Blame the fingers!


	3. One Word: OW

Chapter three- One Word: OW

Little did anyone know, John wasn't dead. In fact, he was far from it. He was alive and was lost, but he was doing alright.

"Where in the world am I?" He said to himself. He had no clue where he was or where he should go. The last thing he remembered before waking up on the beach was swimming for shore in a raging storm.

_Oh great. I'm lost._ John thought to himself. _This is just what I need._ John trudged through the dense woods. He didn't know where he was and he didn't know how to find his way to Jamestown. He didn't know where to go at all.

_Where's a compass when you need it?_ He thought. He hadn't gotten another one because he hadn't though he'd need one; he hadn't expected to get lost!

"Well this is just great." John said. He was anything but happy about being lost. Sure, he had seen some of Virginia, but that was only around Jamestown and where he had talked to Pocahontas. Would he ever see her again? John made his way to a steep, rocky hill. It was more of a ravine, and it sloped sharply with sharp rocks at the bottom. Not many, but enough to cause injury if one should fall. But John wasn't paying attention to that. He was staring out at the land that stretched in front of him. None of it was familiar. The ground, unbeknownst to John, was very unstable from the storm. John stood at the very close to the edge of the ravine and the ground beneath him began to crumble. Before John had any time to even consider that the ground he was standing on might not support his weight, the ground gave way beneath his feet. John tumbled down into the steep ravine. As quickly as it had happened, it was all over. John hit the hard, rocky ground at the bottom of the steep cliff. He groaned and pushed himself off the ground after a few minutes of intense pain. He didn't think anything was broken, but he was in too much pain to be completely sure. He sat up. He had a few cuts and bruises on his arms and hands, but that wasn't what John was worried about. It was his leg. He couldn't move it very much without a sharp and searing pain running through it. If it wasn't broken, it was sprained pretty badly and there was a very large gash near his kneecap.

"Oh great. Now what?" John said. He looked up the steep hill. He knew he had to go that way again if he had any hope of finding Jamestown or Pocahontas's village. Or if he had any hope of finding anyone. John carefully got up. The gash was bleeding heavily, but he had to get up the hill. John scanned the ravine for a place where the hill wasn't so steep. He finally spotted a place and slowly made his way to it. Then he began to climb. He had a good sized cut on his palm and it hurt to touch anything, but he knew he had to get up the hill. Finally, after about an hour and a lot of pain later, John reached the top. He wanted to stop, but the sky had darkened again by that time and he knew he didn't have time. He had to find shelter. John walked until he found a small clearing in the woods. It wasn't very big, but there was a small log that he could sit on and the trees overhead provided shelter. Now that he had a temporary shelter, John turned his attention back to his leg. It didn't look too good. John knew he needed to find his way to Pocahontas's village. He couldn't risk going back to Jamestown. He just couldn't. John was exhausted. Finally, he couldn't take any more. He fell asleep.

Not far away from John, someone else had fallen asleep. Someone that thought he was dead.

**A/N-** Well, this is going well! He's not dead! Thank you, fingers! - Robin


	4. Reunited

Chapter four- Reunited

Pocahontas yawned and sat up. Where was she? She didn't know where she was. The last thing she remembered was running from Jamestown and crying here on the ground. She must have fallen asleep. But something was wrong. Then she remembered: John was dead. She fought back more tears as she got up. She had to get home now. No doubt her father was worried about her. Pocahontas began to walk. As she did, her surroundings became more familiar. She had been here before, when she was little. Pocahontas knew she would be able to find her way home.

"Come on, Meeko, Percy." She said and the two little animals followed close behind her. Flit buzzed sadly near her. The three animals knew how Pocahontas was feeling. Suddenly, a sound caught Meeko's ears that Pocahontas didn't hear. Meeko dashed into the brush with Percy and Flit not too far behind him. They had heard the sound, too. Pocahontas stopped and then scampered after the little animals. They stopped and looked out at a small clearing from behind a bush. Pocahontas stopped and peered out from behind the big bush at whatever her friends were looking at. What she saw made her gasp.

There, right in front of her, was the person she loved so much, the one she thought was dead, the one that had left ten months ago. There was John. John was sitting on a small log and was examining his kneecap.

"John?" Pocahontas whispered, wondering if it was really him. "John, is that you?"

John turned. Was it really her? He saw her come out of the bushes.

"Pocahontas?" He asked. Pocahontas smiled a huge smile, realizing it _was_ John. She ran to him and hugged his close.

"John! John, you're alive! They told me you were dead!" She said, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. John hugged her close.

"It's really me. Is it really you?" He asked.

"It's me." She said. She then noticed that John's kneecap was bleeding.

"John, what happened?" She asked.

"I…fell." John said.

"Where? When? How?" Pocahontas asked.

"It's a long story. I was trying to find my way to your village when I slipped on some mud and was sent down into that ravine not too far from here." John said. Pocahontas could tell the fall had hurt. John had bruises on his hand and cuts on his arms and a few bruises on his face, too. His knee was the worst of all. The gash was quite large and was bleeding.

"We have to get you to Jamestown!" Pocahontas said. John shook his head.

"No! I can't go back there!" John said, which caused Pocahontas to wonder.

"Why not? John, they think you're dead!"

"And I'd like to keep it that way." John said.

"Why? John, they thought you drowned when you fell off the ship in the storm!" Pocahontas said, trying her best to convince him to come back.

"No, Pocahontas, I didn't fall off the ship." John said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't fall off the ship, Pocahontas." John said. "I was pushed."

**A/N- **OK, fingers, whodoneit? I guess we'll ALL have to wait and see! -Robin


	5. The Story

Chapter Five- The Story

"Pushed?!" Pocahontas exclaimed, not able to imagine who would do such a thing. John nodded.

"I don't know who did it or why, but someone _did_ push me. I was trying to help everyone, but the ship suddenly swayed, but I caught myself. Then I felt someone push me. They weren't trying to keep me on the ship; they were trying to get me _off_ the ship!" John explained. Pocahontas nodded. Someone was out to get John, and that was easy to see.

"But why can't you at least come to the village?"

"Because you and I both know some of the settlers come to your village and it's just too great of a risk. Please, Pocahontas, don't tell anyone where I am! Please! If whoever tried to push me off the ship knows I'm alive and knows you know, he might try to hurt you! Please, just don't tell them where I am." John said. Pocahontas thought a minute. What was she going to do? Was she really to not tell anyone where John was? Was she really going to leave him here? No, she wasn't.

"I won't, I promise." Pocahontas said. "But we have to at least get you someplace closer to the village!" John sighed, knowing this was going to take a while and hurt…a lot.

"Alright." He said.

"Good! I know of a cave you can stay in." Pocahontas said and she helped John to his feet. "Here, lean against me." She said. John put his arm around her shoulders and he leaned against her.

"Alright. Now can you walk?" Pocahontas asked. John nodded.

"Yes, but it's a bit painful. And when I say a bit, I mean a lot." John said. Pocahontas knew that he was trying not to let his pain show because that was the kind of person John was, but she was glad he was being honest with her. Slowly, Pocahontas helped John to his feet. John groaned because it hurt so bad to walk, but he knew that he couldn't stay where he was. Slowly, the two walked. John, Pocahontas could tell, was having a hard time walking. His knee was badly sprained and the huge gash on his kneecap didn't help matters.

"Meeko, look out!" Pocahontas said as Meeko ran head of her and John to a berry bush.

"He hasn't changed a bit, has he?" John asked.

"Not a bit." Pocahontas said as Meeko gobbled down a bunch of berries before Flit and Percy caught up and then Pocahontas and John.

"How far is it?" John asked. Pocahontas gave him a sympathetic look.

"Pretty far." She answered. She helped John limp along towards home.

"How did your wounds heal so fast?" Pocahontas asked, wanting the awkward silence between her and John to go away.

"I really don't know, Pocahontas, but I think and believe your love had something to do with it!" John answered and Pocahontas smiled.

"I'm just glad your back, even you do have to stay hidden."

"I know. I'm glad to be- ow!- back, too. I hate that the others can't know where I am and that I'm alive, but there's really nothing I can do about that." John said, shrugging. He looked at her. "But how in the world are you going to sneak out of the village to see me?" He asked. Pocahontas smiled.

"If you think I can't and won't find a way, you don't know me very well." She said. "I've done it before. I'm hardly there anyway."

"Just be careful. Don't let anyone from Jamestown or the village follow you."

"Don't worry about me, John. I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, we have to take care of." They continued to walk slowly towards the cave. After about two hours, they reached it.

"Well, this is it. It's about a forty minute walk here." Pocahontas said.

"It'll work. I'm just glad to be back. As long as I'm back, I don't care if I sleep outside every night." John said.

"I'm glad you're back, too." Pocahontas said and she kissed him for the first time in ten months.

"You had better get back. I'll be fine for the night." John said. Pocahontas nodded.

"My father's probably worried sick about me." She said. "I'll be back tomorrow. I love you, John, and I'm glad you're finally back." Pocahontas said.

"I love you, too. See you tomorrow." John said back and Pocahontas took off running for home with Meeko, Percy, and Flit at her heels.


	6. According to Plan?

Chapter Seven- According to Plan?

"Daughter!" Powhatan called to Pocahontas when she reentered the village. "Where have you been?" Pocahontas felt a stab of pain, knowing that she couldn't tell her father John was back and alive.

"I went to Jamestown. John is dead." She said sadly. On the outside, she was sad, but inside, she was dancing for joy. John was alive, well, maybe a little – OK, a lot – injured, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"Oh Pocahontas." Powhatan said and Pocahontas just stared at the ground.

"Get some rest, daughter." Powhatan said gently and Pocahontas went back to her hut. She hated lying to her father, but she knew she had to, for John. She only hoped she could find a way to go and see him every night.

...oOo...

"John?" Someone whispered into the dark. "John, are you here?"

"Over here, Pocahontas." John whispered back. He exited the cave.

"I brought you some herbs and things to help you." Pocahontas whispered. "I hope they help."

"I sure hope they do." John said. "I accidentally got the cut on my knee infected." He said. Pocahontas shook her head.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I tripped." John said.

"Nice going."

"That's what I said."

"Come on, you'd better get that as clean as you possibly can."

...oOo...

Things went well for about two weeks. Pocahontas always seemed to find a way to see John.

John, meanwhile, knew that his injuries were getting worse. He could barely move his leg. He didn't let on to Pocahontas. She would just worry. Instead, he always assured her he was fine and that the cut was getting better, which was the complete opposite. And he started to feel bad, like he was coming down with something.

"John?" Pocahontas whispered. John tried to move, but he wasn't able to. He shivered, even though the night was muggy.

"John?" Pocahontas asked again. "Answer me!" John didn't answer. Panic overtook Pocahontas.

"John?" She asked, stepping into the cave. In the pale moonlight, Pocahontas could barely make out John's figure at the far end of the cave. "John?" John didn't move. Pocahontas walked over to him.

"John." She said. She shook his shoulder. John groaned. Pocahontas felt of his forehead. He pulled away from her cool touch. His blonde hair clung to his forehead from the heat. He had a high fever.

_Infection!_ Pocahontas thought. "John, John, wake up." She said, shaking him harder. John didn't respond, try as he might. For some reason, he couldn't move his mouth to speak.

Pocahontas began to pace. She had promised she wouldn't tell anyone where he was! But that was before his cut got infected! What was she going to do? She had to tell someone. She knew she had promised, but if she didn't, he could die. And his life was more important at the moment.

"John," Pocahontas said, kneeling down next to him. "I'm going to get help."

With that, she took off running.

**I'm so sorry it took so long! I've had bad writers block on this story! The last time I updated this, it was the day we got the call that we needed to get our butts down to Arkansas quick the week my Gran died. Anyway, sorry it's so short, but that's all I have! Please review!**

**-Robin**


End file.
